A Profile Of Pres. Kufuor?s Leadership Failures

In this article, my intention is to bring a few principles of leadership to bear on Kufuor?s dismal performance as the leader of government business in Ghana. I will pick examples from Kufuor?s stewardship over the past five years to illustrate why I think John Agyekum Kufuor is the most useless and clueless president Ghana has had the misfortune of swearing into office.

Leadership defined

Leadership is a process by which a president influences others (his cabinet, staffers and advisors) to accomplish an objective, that is, motivate his team to carry out his vision in a coherent manner. The president?s vision must have a strong foundation in his own personal attributes, such as his beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge and skills. One hallmark of a president with strong leadership skills is his superior ability to articulate a vision that galvanizes his cabinet to want to achieve excellence in levels of performance of the goals that he has laid before them. A president, who is able to galvanize his team and a large portion of his country to share and participate in his vision and his goals, is a strong and an effective president. The president is the chief purveyor of the hopes of his people. As Napoleon Bonaparte put it, ?A leader is a dealer in hope.? To the extent that he is able to carry the citizens of his country along on his visionary journey into the future, an effective president is the embodiment of the aspirations and hopes of his people. It is apropos to ask the following questions: To what extent is president Kufuor the embodiment of the visions and aspirations of the people Ghana? What is the five-year record of President John Agyekum Kufuor on the job that Ghanaians have hired him to do? To assess Kufuor?s performance as the leader of the government of Ghana, we need to examine his five-year record of presidency against the basic requirements of a few leadership principles.

Principle 1: An effective president seeks responsibility and takes responsibility for his actions.

An effective president understands that it is his responsibility to seek innovative ways to help his team reach new heights. After a president lays out his vision and his goals before his cabinet and the nation and then parcels out portions of this vision to the various players in his cabinet, he must be on his toes acting as catalyst to support and nudge his subordinates to perform their jobs. While being accessible to his team he must also set performance standards for each of them and request to be personally informed of progress. A president must be prepared to work with his ministers to find new ways of solving old problems and innovative ways of solving new problems. Ultimately, the only reason why citizens elect a president is to have one person who coordinates the country?s resources and brings them to bear on solving the people?s problems. Yes, solving old and new problems as well as anticipating future problems; this is the primary reason why citizens elect a president. What this ultimately means is that, an effective president must desist from blaming others for the problems and failures of his administration. When things go wrong in his administration, as they always do sooner or later, an effective president does not blame his political opponents. An effective president supports his team to analyze the situation, take corrective action and move on to the next challenge. What we have seen from Kufuor in the past five years is very disturbing.

From all appearances, he seems very interested in the title, Mr. President, that goes with his office. Beyond that, Kufuor has no control over his cabinet, seems to show no interest in their job performances, is not perturbed by their failures and certainly has not the foggiest idea how to compel them to act in the best interest of the nation to solve problems. Instead, Kufuor and his cabinet, his party and his support base have squandered the last five years blaming their political opponents for every misstep they have experienced in office. As late as Dec 17, 2005, during an NPP Congress at Legon, Kufuor still blamed NDC for the lackluster performance of his NPP government. Five years into his presidency, Kufuor appears so unprepared for the job of leading the nation that he stills finds perverse comfort in blaming NDC for his failures. For how long will Ghanaians wait for him to discover the reasons why they elected him president? The tragedy of this failure by the president to take responsibility for the missteps of his government rests in the fact that while his team is busy blaming their failures on their opponents they have niggardly time to learn from those mistakes. President Kufuor and his team of advisors can benefit from the wise admonition of former US president Harry Truman who wrote ?Men make history, and not the other way around . . . Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better?, not find scapegoats in previous administrations.

Principle 2. An effective president makes sound and timely decisions.

An effective president with strong leadership qualities has a tab on what goes on in his government. However, one who shirks his basic supervisory responsibilities behind a wall of special assistants, aides and staffers pretty quickly loses touch with how his government presents itself to the people. Case in point; John Agyekum Kufuor paid lip service to ?zero tolerance for corruption? for as long as he could get away with it. It is apparent that the president takes comfort in the expectation that a superabundance of ministers, deputies, special assistants and redundant appointees would coalesce in a gargantuan swarm to swat the nation?s problems and cause his visions to materialize. More like, if we throw enough well-paid political appointees at sections of the economy, our problems will disappear. Quite the opposite has happened. The overwhelming swarm of ministers, deputies, special assistants, advisors and staffers has rather succeeded in feeding the president hogwash (I had a more appropriate choice word here, but I will spare your sensibilities) about how well his government is performing. Either rumors of malfeasance and corruption in his government do not reach him, or if they do, he is being fed enough bullcrap by his numerous handlers to render him severely dissonanced by the contrary signals the public is sending. Stifling dissonance could be the only reason for JAK?s failure to get rid of controversial ministers like Anane and Edumadze. By failing to institute timely discipline among his ministers through sacking a few of the corrupt ones, the president rendered himself ineffective and feeble. His failure to discipline wayward ministers and staffers such as Alhaji Moctar Bamba and Eric Anane sent a clear message to his cabinet and members of his NPP party that, there were no ethical standards to be maintained and that the threshold for getting fired was nonexistent.

Principle 3. An effective president sets an example for members of his cabinet and their subordinates.

Personal example is a prerequisite of effective leadership. It is so basic that it seems ridiculous to cram it down the throat of a person like John Agyekum Kufuor, a person who has nursed the idea of becoming president for so long. The most lasting and most effective way to teach character is by showing character in one?s own personal and public life. As Mahatma Gandhi put it, ?we must become the change we want to see.? Our president need not only tell Ghanaians, his cabinet, parliament and his party members that he expects them to exhibit integrity, focus on service to our people, and show ethical conduct in both personal and professional affairs. More importantly, he must invite the public and his team to take a cue from his own personal life and his irreproachable conduct of government business. Fellow Ghanaians, it is in the arena of personal example that John Agyekum Kufuor exhibits his worst failure as a leader. Right from his first month in office, John Agyekum Kufuor gave an unequivocal signal to Ghanaians to wag their tongues about his character, his ethics and his values. Less than six months in office, the president was reported to have renovated his private residence with public funds. In a manner that would set the tone for his scandal-fraught administration, Kufuor ignored the demands of Ghanaians to know the facts surrounding the renovation of his house. When the pressure for information became unbearable, his NPP party henchmen sowed a fraudulent story in the press that the renovation of his house was a gift from an anonymous benefactor. That story remains the official explanation four and one-half years after the fact.

This pattern of accusations of personal lapses in moral character and judgment and the president?s nonchalant mute stance has been the defining characteristic of Kufuor?s administration and will most likely be his lasting legacy to the nation. This pattern of accusations of corruption and what I call the president?s ?mumu response? seems to be repeated with unrelenting rehash every few months. Infact, evidence of moral and ethical lapses seem to define the man more than any other character traits. Thus the nation has had to go from accusations of the president?s inflated per diem claims, extramarital affairs with Gizelle Yajzi, fathering children out of wedlock, tribalism, his party?s complicity in the murder of political opponent Alhaji Mobilla, complicity in the murder and decapitation of Ya Na, frivolous monthly travels outside the country, fraudulent acquisition of a $3.5 million hotel, to recent charges within his own party of complicity in receipt of corrupt and illegal kickbacks in the castle. At this point, unless a miracle happens, John Agyekum Kufuor will go down in history as the most corrupt, visionless and most feeble leader our nation has had the misfortune to put up with. Even General IK Acheampong?s rule in the 1970s seems to possess superior redeeming qualities than Kufuor?s administration 30 years later.

Principle 4. An effective president understands his citizens and looks out for their well-being.

An effective leader understands human nature and the importance of sincerely caring for his citizens. What is the single most damning indicator that President John Agyekum has little regard and care for the citizens who elected him to office? He has never responded directly in a face-to-face meeting with Ghanaians to answer their questions about incompetence, rot and corruption in his government. President John Agyekum Kufuor probably views himself like a king; a royal who must treat his subjects? tongue wagging with dignified silence, if not scorn. This is the hallmark of a person who believes that neither he nor his government is accountable to the citizens who elected them. A king derives his title and his position by divine appointment and by right of blood, steeped in history and tradition. A king can ignore the demands of his people for information (a wise king would not) and he has some justification to regard himself superior to his subjects. Somehow, President John Agyekum Kufuor got into his head that as a dignified leader, he has neither need nor responsibility to step down to the level of the common Ghanaian to explain charges and rumors of corruption and malfeasance against his government. He is above the ordinary Ghanaian. Perhaps he even believes that he was born to rule. Fellow Ghanaians, we have a king on our hands. Kufuor nonchalantly moves from one scandal to the next without as much as a fleeting thought to explain himself to Ghanaians. Let us look at three recent examples. In November 2005, a member of Ghana?s Parliament was caught with large quantities of heroin in New York and he has since been arraigned. Our dignified president is yet to talk to Ghanaians and calm their jitters about this national disgrace. In the same month, the president?s own party chairman accused him of operating an illegal slush fund obtained from illegal dealings in the castle, yet our president considers himself too high above Ghanaians to care a rusty pesewa what they think. Within a month of these two scandals, the president?s cabinet sought parliamentary approval to renovate Peduase Lodge for $30 million. A president who knows how to lead and one who cares about the welfare of his people would have used the media or at least an appearance in parliament to explain to Ghanaians why spending $30 million on a presidential palace is a top priority for his government, over and above health, roads, schools, water, reliable power, other infrastructural and capital expenditures. But not JAK. He must remain the royal president, too dignified to descend from his throne to talk to his subjects.

Principle 5. An effective president develops a sense of responsibility in his ministers and their subordinates.

It can?t be overemphasized that the task of an effective president is first and foremost to instill in his ministers a can-do spirit. The president must drum into the heads of members of his team that the opportunity they have been given to shape the future direction and the success of their nation is a privilege for which they must be grateful to their citizens. Instead of members of government seeing their positions are entitlements by virtue of their superior formal education or as reward for their sacrifice to bring the party to power, it is the president?s unique responsibility, having come to this realization on his own well before seeking political office, to inculcate this ideal of responsibility and privilege in his ministers, staffers and his party. Ministers and their staff should be given an unmistakable message that anyone who discharges the duties of their office in a manner at variance with this ideal of public responsibility and anyone who occupies his office as a demi-god would lose the privilege. In this noble arena too, Kufuor has been a spectacular failure. He has allowed his ministers to ride roughshod over the citizens of Ghana. Instead as seeing their offices as privileged positions to serve, they regard their offices as deserved fiefdoms where they are free to do as they please.

What else could explain Richard Anane?s expenditure of Ghana Airways funds on his concubine in the US? Anane was given a unique responsibility, a privilege, to resuscitate a dying Ghana Airways. Did he discharge the duties of his office in a manner consistent with one who considered it a privilege that his nation entrusted such a delicate job into his hands? No, Richard Anane treated Ghana Airways with a typical Kufuor mentality; a mentality of criminal entitlement. Instead of giving his honest best effort in the service of his nation in an attempt to resuscitate the air carrier, Dr. Richard Anane siphoned the last dime out of Ghana Airways and nailed the coffin shut on our national air carrier. Much earlier than the Ghana Airways episode, this same Richard Anane went to an HIV/AIDS conference and had unprotected sex with a lady, an act which constitutes an abhorrent betrayal of his responsibilities as our nation?s health minister. Inspite of these two egregious displays of professional irresponsibility and lack of moral character President Kufuor still regarded Anane a man of high competence and ethical conduct worthy to be nominated and appointed again in his second administration. Even if Anane had been most technically proficient in all the tasks that the president had asked him to perform, his moral lapses and character flaws were sufficient to send him packing, for in the words of Lewis H. Lapham ?Leadership consists not in degrees of technique but in traits of character; it requires moral rather than athletic or intellectual effort . . . ?.

Service to the country has been turned on its head and political position is now largely seen in Kufuor?s Ghana as an entitlement. Anane?s case and several others including Edumadze?s moral lapses are sufficient proof that the president does not demand responsibility, accountability and good report from his ministers. What a spectacular failure JAK has been, inspite of the overwhelming amount of goodwill he has had from Ghanaians, on account of being the first peacefully changed civilian leader in our country?s history. It is a tragedy that good character and good report seem to have no place on Kufuor?s list of traits he wants to see in his ministers.

Principle 6. All good leaders and effective presidents constantly seek self-improvement.

No one is born an effective leader. People are born with predispositions, which must be nurtured and developed. No matter how good one is at taking charge of situations and leading others through seemingly hopeless situations, effective leaders actually have to work at being effective. Formal training helps, but more importantly, effective leadership is nurtured through self-study, reflection and interacting with others. The act of leading itself offers sufficient opportunity for a leader to hone his skills as he influences and is in turn influenced by his subordinates. What is the indicator that a president is a better leader today than he was five years ago? The singular barometer of his improvement is how he handles issues similar to what he has dealt with before. Experiential learning, while not always ideal, can be a powerful instrument of self-improvement for President Kufuor. Contrary to our expectations of leadership improvement over time, the kinds of scandals and the kinds of incompetent performance of the people?s business that plagued Kufuor?s government four years ago seem to be the very same types of problems he faces today. That Kufuor actually conceived, deliberated upon, discussed with his cabinet and concluded that a $30 million tab for building a presidential palace is an expenditure of the highest priority for his government, speaks volumes on his inability or unwillingness or his incompetence to govern our nation with foresight and a good understanding of what our national priorities ought to be.

Conclusion

Kufuor was the first person in our history to receive a presidential inaugural where the torch was passed from one president to the other. He was the president who came into office with so much goodwill, his major opposition, the NDC, actually looked in 2001 like it was about to fold. All JAK had to do was to articulate a vision, with a few set of basic principles for his ministers, hold their feet to the fire, sack a few of them for incompetence, and demand to see results. Instead, what did he spend the last five years doing? He developed a siege mentality, gave free rein to his ministers and actually did all in his power to undermine his own stated visions of zero tolerance for corruption and positive change. His own stated visions of ?zero tolerance? and ?positive change? became a smoke and mirrors game with the president telling Ghanaians that private citizens have a duty to investigate allegations of corruption, and provide iron-clad evidence to his government before he would act on allegations of official corruption. So much for zero tolerance. And so much prime political capital wasted at the foothills of incompetence, greed and corruption. It is an opportunity missed and the entire nation, especially his party supporters, if they have the interest of Ghana foremost on their minds, should hold him to account.

As Theodore Hesburgh put it, ?The very essence of leadership is that you have a vision. It's got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet.? Unfortunately, Kufuor?s failures in articulating and pursuing a vision for Ghana are so gaping, so colossal and so oft-repeated that, he seems deliberately intent on succeeding at failure.